By the start of 2015, Murali Vijay was hailed as the most improved cricketer in the Indian team. It was only a while ago that the Tamil Nadu batsman was dismissed as flashy and under-cooked with his temperament and footwork combined with a poor run of form got him the boot in 2011.
An unfazed Vijay fought his way back into the side in 2013. Out went the Twenty20 specialist that Chennai Super Kings had banked on for quick-fire starts. Here was a batsman with a sound knowledge of where his off stump was, and importantly for India, he was not bogged down by phases where runs would dry up. He was more than willing to graft big scores for his side.
Despite not being in the same spotlight as Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, Vijay was making his mark and passed stern tests Down Under and in England. A vintage fluent hundred at Rajkot was followed by two failures. With the team management eager to blood KL Rahul and Karun Nair, Vijay’s place, which he had made it his own, is no longer a guarantee. With the Indian domestic season under way, heavy-scoring Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s names have emerged as strong suitors.
Recent run and the opener conundrum
It has been a below-par year for the 32-year-old, managing just one hundred across 12 Tests at an average of 33.05. With Shikhar Dhawan also losing his touch, India yet again find themselves searching for a stable opening combination. While the returns of Gautam Gambhir and Parthiv Patel viewed nothing more than quick-fix solutions, the prospect of Rahul walking out with one of the aforementioned young stars would not be entirely unfathomable.
The stop-start nature of an opening batsman’s form is not limited to the Indian batsmen alone. All major Test playing nations have chopped and changed at will over the past year. England have been notorious here and have experimented with as many as seven openers in the last three years to fix the vacant spot alongside Alastair Cook at the top.
The last time India were a force in the five-day game, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were completely in sync with each other’s rhythms. Perhaps, the niggles over the last year and the revolving door that has recently been erected with India’s opening slot may have taken a toll on Vijay.
What now?
Some of Vijay’s dismissals have in the ongoing series have been soft in nature and he was one of the few batsmen to have come out with his reputation intact as James Anderson and Co skittled out India for fun in the last three Tests when India toured England in 2014.
Vijay also countered a rampaging Mitchell Johnson and his shot-ball menace with alacrity in 2014-’15. Having successfully married a new-found steel to his natural strokemaking ability, Vijay has also forged rock-solid combinations with Dhawan before his loss of form and Pujara. Stringing together a consistent run of big scores, which he seamlessly brought up during the first year after his comeback, has eluded him now.
The batsman is, after all, in the last leg of his career. Another axing, which would be eye-popping given how important Vijay is to his side, would potentially close all doors on him. His fielding has also been lackluster having dropped a simple chance at slips at Rajkot and letting the ball bounce off his legs and into the boundary at fine-leg in the first innings at Mohali.
A solid opening pair will be pivotal to India’s bid of retaining the No.1 Test status for the foreseeable future. Having invested in his talent and seen him blossom as a vital cog in the white flannels, India need a fit and firing Vijay who can regularly deflate attacks at the top of the order and pile on three-figure scores.